HURRICANE, finnick odair (hiatus)

xvii. calm

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN!

CALM.

EVEN AT TWENTY ONE, Carter Barton worries that his entire world will turn upside down. Since the return of his sister from her Games, he has constantly been worried that something will happen to her. Some would call him over dramatic or somebody who worries too much, but he cannot help in. In a world that is full of death and sadness, he can never be too sure.

Despite the fact she is sitting right beside him.

Rosalie hums lightly as she knits the last part of the jumper she has been working on for weeks. She's in her own world, completely oblivious to the watchful eyes of her brother next to her.

Knitting is a hobby that she has picked up since being home from the games and as a result, she has gotten quite good at it. Last year, she even managed to knit everyone a stocking for Christmas with their names stitched into it. They, to date, are probably the gifts she is most proud of. This year she plans on knitting everybody a Christmas sweater — matching ones of course.

"Could you grab me my drink, C?" Rosalie speaks softly, not removing her eyes from the project in front of her. "I'm almost done,"

"Sure," Carter responds.

The younger boy walks out of the room and grabs the drink she had left on the counter. There is barely any left so Carter goes over to the tap and fills it up before returning to the living room. He places it on the table and finally she looks away from the project in front of her, a smile pulling at her lips as she does so.

"Thanks," She smiles, reaching over to take a drink. It's then she notices that her brother is sitting there rather quietly, looking at her. "What's up, C?"

"Nothing," he shrugs in response and she rolls her eyes, putting down the drink and turning to him.

"You know you can't lie to me, Carter. Now, tell me what's going on with you,"

"The Quell's coming up. They can do anything they want in a Quell and I'm worried," He admits and she leans her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sure we'll be just fine. You're not under eighteen anymore, there is absolutely nothing for you to be worried about,"

He swallows lightly and then moves his head so it is leaning against her's. The two of them sit in silence for what seems like forever, enjoying the familiar company as they await the news ahead.

A soft bout of laughter falls from her lips as Finnick attempts to make her some form of fancy drink he'd had in the Capitol. He is in no way graceful, spilling most of it over the side of the glass. She winks at him when he hands it over, giving him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the beverage.

Rosalie lifts the glass to her lips and takes a sip, her face scrunching up in disgust moments later. The man, who is the cause of the look, raises his eyebrows almost in shock that she didn't like it. She hands it over and he takes a sip, the same face being executed by him.

"That was terrible," He splutters, taking the cup and pouring the drink down the sink. "Why do you let me do stuff like this?"

"You insisted you'd gotten better. I think it actually tastes worse than last time," Rosalie responds with a chuckle. "I think maybe it's time you give it away, get a new hobby,"

He practically throws himself onto the lounge beside her, sitting as close to her as he possibly can. The boy intertwines their hands as they sit there, their eyes now on the monitor he'd turned on.

They know that Snow is looking to regain some control after the what had happened with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark of District Twelve — something that Rosalie admires. She though they were incredibly brave to do what they did, even if it did unknowingly start up a rebellion. She only hopes that the two of them remain safe because Snow can be an extremely vengeful man when he wants to be, he's pure evil. He condones the death of 23 children every year and says it's to keep the peace.

If anything, it does the opposite.

She heard about rumours in District Eleven after the death of their female tribute, the twelve year old girl with her whole life ahead of her. The District started to revolt and had to be put back under control.

"You good?" Finnick asks as Rosalie sits in utter silence, her eyes glued on the screen as Snow begins to speak.

"Yeah. Carter is probably stressing out at home again. He was almost in tears this morning because he was so worried.  You know how he gets around this time of year," Rosalie sighs softly, head on his shoulder now.

"I think he has a right to worry, Rose. Snow has been on a bit of a power trip lately. The head Game Maker was found dead, you can't tell me that wasn't him,"

"Yeah,"

The brunette nervously play's with Finnick's fingers as they sit there and wait. Snow introduces himself to the crowd and then explains the rules of a Quarter Quell before opening the envelope. Rosalie's hand tightens around his as the announcement is read.

"As a reminder, that even the strongest cannot overcome the power of the Capitol. On this, the third Quarter Quell game, the male and female tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of Victors in each district,"

Rosalie doesn't even realise she's crying until the silent tears turn into full blow sobs.

NOTES!

Hi everybody!  I hope you enjoyed! I'm sorry the updates have been so inconsistent, so thank you all so much for sticking around.

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Thank you for reading and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!